Three Seconds
by elevenhurricanes
Summary: Officers are standing around a body in the road. He's clawing and tearing at the bystanders, flashing his badge as somewhere, one of the sirens goes quiet. The only sound is the blood pooling through his ears and the whispers of the town. "Parker?"


Spoilers for 2x6: _Audrey Parker's Day Off_.  
>Don't own the show, the town, or Nathan (unfortunately).<p>

Three seconds. Three seconds for the whole world to turn upside down. His pulse is quickening, not that he can feel it, but he knows by the way his breath is coming out in short, hesitant pants.

"…may have finally stopped it this time." There's a window of opportunity for him to chime in, to agree or disagree with her statement, but for the life of him, he can't find the words. The gnawing, panicky sensation in the bottom of his stomach is working its way upward now. The taste of bittersweet, digested donuts and burnt coffee reaches his tongue.

"Parker." One word, two syllables, and yet he stuffs everything he wants to convey into it like a tightly-packed suitcase. "Just promise me that you'll clear out in time. I don't-" For once, it isn't her that's interrupting him.

There's a muffled noise that sounds out of the receiver, cutting his chiding tone to a halt, and steadily grows louder. Before a single question can leave his mouth, there's a sickening thud that's even louder than the previous noise. "Parker!"

He's up and moving and grabbing things before anything can register in his mind. The phone in a tight grip, he passes through the walls of the station and climbs into the Bronco. For a split second, he expects the Chief to come running out, berating him about not getting all of the facts before jumping in.  
><em>If nothing's wrong and you show up there like some worry-wart of a boyfriend, she isn't gonna be happy to see you.<br>__  
><em>"And if she's in danger and bleeding out on the sidewalk?" There's no response, as there shouldn't be, since the entire conversation he's having is made up in his mind, anyway. Which is probably unhealthy. Which is why he hasn't discussed these common occurrences with Audrey. Honestly, he's surprised she hasn't caught him yet.

Taking the curve on Cedar a bit too sharply, he sees the city center laid out before him: all of the family-owned shops, the saltwater-tarnished benches on every block, and the strip of ocean beyond everything, gradually disappearing as he makes his way further into town.

The phone stitched to the side of his ear is completely silent, which probably means the connection was lost, but he keeps it trapped there anyway, as a precaution. As he nears the area Audrey was patrolling, he can see the steeple of the Good Shepherd Church, its crumbling bell tower and weathered exterior shining like a pale bruise on the horizon, rising above the other buildings.

His eyes divert from it to the flashing lights near the square, sharp colors bursting out in between the cracks of buildings as the truck makes a final turn.

"Parker?" He calls out through the phone, focused on the lights of the cruiser near the ice cream shop. Throwing the truck into park, he jumps out, cradling the forgotten phone in his hand. There are a few officers already standing around a body in the middle of the road.

He's clawing and tearing at the bystanders, flashing his badge as somewhere, one of the sirens goes quiet. The only sound is the blood pooling through his ears and the whispers of the town. "Parker?"

There's a distinct whistling now, something he might have paused and pondered on if he wasn't in this situation. The last edge of the crowd is breaking apart to let the paramedics through, and Nathan sees his chance, slipping in front of them with a quick burst of speed as the whistling grows louder, and then everything is gone.

"_Good morning, Haven! You're listening to 106.1 the River, playing all of today's hits and the best of the_-" Slamming his palm onto the snooze button, he rolls away from the sunlight creeping in through the window and cracks open his eyes. It's not like he's expecting anything different, but if he was, he'd be disappointed.

All that's visible is the ceiling, white and crisp, with the blades of the fan whirling quietly. On a day like today, he would normally already be up and showered, downing coffee and speeding through town in the Bronco.

Of course, ever since he beat out Audrey in rock-paper-scissors last week, today isn't going to be a normal day. He's completely content with this, and roots deeper into the blankets.  
>And it only took three seconds for the whole world to turn right-side up again.<p>

AN: I combined a few of the "days" into the one that Chris is killed on. It just made the story flow better if I didn't split it into separate days. I know that when Chris dies, Nathan doesn't have time to reach Audrey before the day restarts, but I'd like to think that he tried to.  
>The three seconds quotes are from one of my other favorite television shows (kudos to you if you know the show).<p> 


End file.
